


Fandom Shock

by bluelove22



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Demons, Fandom, First Meetings, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Misunderstandings, Spirits, Traveling, solangelo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 18:02:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13529664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluelove22/pseuds/bluelove22
Summary: When Nico gets bored between camps and Will brings up the idea of traveling around the world, neither of them expected to find themselves getting involved in worlds outside their own. Or a series of Solangelo crossover one/mult.-shots with several other books, movies, cartoons, anime, etc. *cross-posted from fanfiction.net*





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any characters.

For the record, Nico fully blamed Will for everything that happened.

Perhaps he wasn't being fair. It was the son of Hades who had found himself going stir crazy flittering between his two homes, Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter, after all. Just because the son of Apollo happened to be the one to mention the idea of traveling around the world to relieve his boredom it didn't mean he wanted to find himself involved in other peoples' matters. However, sometimes shadow travel wasn't always precise. There also was the fact that they were demigods and attracted trouble even faster than Percy Jackson himself (which is saying something).

To think it all started with a simple question.

"Where do you want to go first?"

Will smiled brightly at being asked, as if little suns were exuding from him just from the shear amount of happiness he was feeling. With a backpack slung around his shoulders holding a couple days worth of snacks and water, a few drachmas, a change of clothes for each of them, and an extra dagger, the son of Apollo made sure the medical bag around his waist was secure and rested a hand on the boy staring out over the hill beside him.

Nico took his hand off the Stygian Iron sword strapped to his side and met his boyfriend's vibrant blue eyes with an elated smile of his own. Never before had he felt so free.

"Anywhere," Will answered coyly, "as long as it's with you."

The younger demigod rolled his eyes. "Sunshine, now is not the time to play the romantic sap card. It was a serious question. I know you're interested in going to a comic book convention in Chicago, the cat café in Saint Louis—"

"You can walk in and pet dozens of cats, Nico! Can you blame me?"

"Yes, because I guarantee one of them will attack me in the time we're there. Anyway, there are the gardens in Kyoto, tons of sights in London, and basically you want to try lots of food from every country in between. Is that right?"

The blond nodded in earnest. "Death Boy, if we're going on a trip around the world we might as will stop in as many places as we can. It'll be like  _Around the World in 80 Days_ , but better because we won't be flying."

"You got that right. Going into Zeus' domain?" Nico shook his head. "I'd be struck by lightning in a heartbeat."

"Shadow traveling is a much more efficient method of travel anyway. As long as you're not fading into the shadows, that is."

"I trust you to keep me in perfect health on our trip. That's why you're coming along, isn't it?" Nico asked with a teasing grin.

Will shoved Nico playfully, proceeding to blow a raspberry at him when he hopped into the shadow of a nearby tree and appeared at the bottom of Half-blood Hill.

"It's not like I'm coming because we're a couple or anything!" He shouted as he began running down the hill, Nico smirking until he was picked up bridal style and spun around.

"Put me down! If you don't our first stop is Antarctica and I will leave you there."

"Aw, is my little ball of death blushing?"

"I will feed you to Cerberus, Solace. I swear to my father."

"Oh no! You're using my last name; that means you mean business."

"Frozen wasteland it is. Three, two, one…"


	2. The Mortal Instruments

New York City, New York.

It was a fine beginning destination when Nico thought about it. Despite living in New York during the summer he was aware neither he nor Will had actually taken time to visit the city, let alone enjoy anything it had to offer. While he suspected it also had something to do with the feeling that his boyfriend wanted to start with baby steps, just in case his clean bill of health faltered, he brushed it off. Will had been overly caring towards Nico since day one after all. He was used to his silly health antics, so that was that.

There was also the fact Will knew Nico secretly wanted to check out the Mythomagic Center located in downtown New York City. After learning he was secretly still into the game, as Cecil had told Will how Nico had beaten a Mythomagic video game borrowed from the son of Hermes in record time despite never playing on a Nintendo system in his life, he knew it had to be a stop. He had seen the cards under his boyfriend's bed and the Hades figurine on his desk, so he knew despite Nico's nonchalant brushing off of the subject it was a source of nostalgia for him.

The only problem with picking such a large city to sightsee in was the sheer amount of people on the streets.

"Maybe we should've started somewhere less densely populated," Nico had complained as soon as he and Will left the alley they had shadow traveled into.

It wasn't actually that busy, but even so the presence of so many people had them a bit on edge for the first few hours of their journey. Two demigods, one of them a son of Hades at that, meant if there were monsters nearby it was likely they would be scented. They needed to keep an eye out in case there was something dangerous around the corner.

Even so, the two enjoyed the day immensely. A walk in the park eating ice cream after dining at a fancy McDonalds for lunch was a great way to start the long string of happy memories to be made on the trip. The awe-filled eyes of Nico when he laid them on the Mythomagic Center as well as everything inside was something Will would never forget.

And then the sun went down.

It was as if the entire atmosphere changed. Nico and Will held hands as to not get lost in the floods of people now bustling around the city, the night life rising out of nowhere quicker than the demigods could handle. It didn't help that they didn't know exactly which way they were going either. All they knew was that they needed to find a place to stay sometime soon; two teenagers out on the town could not bode well for them.

"According to the map," Will said, "there should be a hotel a few blocks that way." He then took the lead in pushing past the crowd, as he was a year older than Nico and a whole nearly a whole foot taller. With the influx of people at every turn it would be easier for him to avoid collision than the younger.

As Will weaved past a stream of businessmen and women, the son of Hades couldn't help feel uneasy. Something in the air was beginning to change. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled like there was something sneaking up on him; however, he kept silent. There was no good to come out of worrying Will if he couldn't figure out what was bothering him. The only thing he could do was scan the crowd for anything irregular.

"We're almost there," Will broke the silence between them when they crossed the street for the umpteenth time. "I think."

"Will, as much as it pains me to say this perhaps we should ask for directions."

"I've totally got this, Death Boy. The map we looked at earlier today said it should be one block past the building right there," he explained as he pointed at a tower to their right. It looked the same as several other towers to Nico though, and just as he was about to voice this he faltered.

Something was nearby.

He stopped moving abruptly, causing Will to glance worriedly at him and several people walking around them to curse in frustration. Whatever was around was pure evil. The grotesque feeling of malevolence that assaulted Nico's senses almost threw him off, since there was no common monster that could give off such a horrid aura.

Suddenly Will's voice breached his thoughts. "Nico, what's wrong?"

The son of Hades almost didn't answer, his mind too preoccupied with searching for the disturbance than scrambling together a couple sentences of explanation.

"I'm sensing something in the immediate area," Nico shared while placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. Slowly leading the way towards the source of his worry, he continued. "It's giving off a dark aura, and it reeks of death stronger than any of the monsters encountered normally. Besides some monsters I felt in Tartarus, I've never felt anything like it before this close to mortals."

"Then let's send it back where it came from," Will replied.

Now, you might be wondering why they were headed towards the thing that was undoubtedly dangerous. It's not exactly the smartest thing to do when you don't know what you're up against, but running away wasn't an option this time. Whatever it was wasn't meant to roam the same space as mortals. There was no way demigods like Nico and Will would just let something so dangerous go when they could do something about it.

They walked with the crowd for several minutes until suddenly Nico tore off down an alleyway. It was after popping out onto a less populated street and walking a few steps that the teenagers found themselves outside what seemed to be a night club called The Underworld, ironically enough.

"It's in here…" Nico stated flatly. He knew what was coming.

"No way!" Cue Will laughing like an idiot, a lone tear escaping one eye as he clutched his stomach. "The monster is in a club named The Underworld? And here I thought the Fates didn't have a sense of humor. Oh how wrong I was!"

"Shut up and have my back in there, Solace. Whatever we're facing is not going to go down easy."

Without another word he bent the shadows around them, walked past the bouncer, and they slipped inside.

* * *

Immediately the noise nearly deafened them. Bodies pushed much too close for Nico's comfort, and as anxiety threatened to settle in his chest he found himself clutching Will's hand all too tightly. Not that the son of Apollo cared. Will was actually happy his boyfriend trusted him enough to let his tough exterior down to seek strength from him; he'd been trying to get the son of Hades to not carry all of his burdens alone for months now. Somehow, despite a lot of arguing, shadow traveling, and a few aggressive make out sessions, he'd reached him.

"Everyone is so packed together in here it's hard to tell where the monster is. It's also most likely taking the shape of a mortal, which makes it even more challenging to pinpoint where it is."

Will nodded in sympathy, blue eyes scanning the area for a pocket with more space. "Let's go over there," he proposed when he caught sight of an empty table away from the lights of the dance floor. "It'll give you a minute to orient yourself without all these sweaty teenagers breathing down our necks."

"Good idea. Lead the way, Sunshine."

However, just as they began making their way to the table, a hand stuck out of the crowd and latched onto Will's arm. With a yelp the blond demigod felt himself being pulled towards the back of the club. He heard Nico curse as he tried to pull Will away from the person on the other side, but it was no use. Whoever it was had a strong grip.

When they finally broke through the crowd the demigods noticed the person pulling them along was an admittedly attractive guy with light blond hair and golden eyes. He was dressed in black, his eyes piercing as he turned around to appraise them. When he noticed Nico, his gaze drifting down to see Will's hand in his, a scowl appeared on his face. At the reaction Nico glared right back at him, a growl threatening to slip past his lips.

"Let go of him," the stranger all but shouted at Will as they neared what appeared to be a storage room. Of course the son of Apollo ignored him, instead ripping his arm away and standing closer to Nico as soon as they entered the space free of mortals. They didn't want to attract attention even if the Mist would help hide the worst of the fight they knew would take place.

"Sorry, but I have to set an example for my younger siblings and say no to going somewhere with a strange guy in black. Who are you anyway?"

"Clary was right." He muttered something else, and suddenly three more teenagers clothed in black entered the room. "You're no mundane."

Will raised an eyebrow at the word. "Thank you? But you still haven't answered my question. Who are you people and why are you bothering the two of us? We were sort of busy looking for someone."

"It's kind of important we find him," Nico added, his voice tinged with annoyance.

At his words all four of the strangers turned to him. Within the span of a few seconds the dark-haired girl had a whip in her hand, the redheaded girl held up some kind of glowing blade similar to the blond that had dragged them there, and the remaining guy knocked an arrow on his bow.

"I'm Jace," the guy with blond hair introduced as he pointed his weapon towards Nico. "All you need to know is that we hunt demons, which means if you don't want to get hurt you'll let go of that thing's hand before it gets angry."

"Demon hunters?" Nico scoffed. "That's different."

Will tilted his head in confusion, staring at the newcomer like he was mental. "Excuse me, but who here do you think is a demon?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He pointed at Nico, to which the son of Apollo merely sighed exasperatedly. This was going to end badly. "Him."

Nico's eyes narrowed indignantly at Jace, his hand curling tighter around the hilt of his own weapon. "What did you just call me? I am not a demon, you moron." There was a tinge of hurt evident in his voice, something both Will and the girl with the blade noticed silently.

"He's telling the truth," Will added while still not taking his hand from Nico's. "He's my very human boyfriend, for your information. We've been dating for months. Also, Jace, it is very rude to come up to someone, point a weapon at him, and call him a demon. Where are your manners?"

"He's never had any to begin with," the archer mentioned offhandedly.

The redhead rolled her eyes at the comment. "Now is not the time for jokes, Alec. If this kid isn't the demon then we need to make sure and find the one in the report."

Alec didn't seem fazed. "I'm still pissed at him for the incident concerning Simon, Clary. And no, Izzy," he said when he heard the girl with the whip let out an annoyed groan, "I will not drop it just yet. He needs to suffer for making your boyfriend think we hated each other."

"Um," Will raised his hand as if he were in a classroom, "can we leave now?"

The demon hunters all shouted "No!" at the same time.

"I'm not going to ask again. Let the boy go, demon." Jace raised his weapon, his body shifting into a fighting stance. "If you do I'll give you the mercy of a quick death."

Shadows shifted around Nico's feet, seeming to not faze the demon hunters in front of him like he'd hoped. "You want to fight, pretty boy?"

"Nico," Will reprimanded. "You need to explain that you're not a demon; not fight. Obviously something is making them think you're a threat."

"Well it can't be because I'm a demigod. You're one too, but they don't seem to realize that. It must have something to do with my father."

"What?" The one called Alec inquired, his bow lowering towards the ground. "Did you say demigod?"

Nico and Will nodded. "Yeah, we're half mortal and half god. Why? Are you demigods too?"

Izzy shook her head, her eyes shining with confusion. "No, we're Nephilim. There's angel blood in our veins. Because of this we hunt demons, but we're called shadowhunters, not demon hunters. We got word there was a demon here. On our way here though, we spotted you guys and noticed something strange about you two. You," she turned gestured to Nico, "are giving off an aura of death not unlike that of a lesser demon. Your boyfriend's aura has this shiny quality to it, sort of like a shadowhunter's. That's why we tailed you two a few blocks before you came in here; we thought you were the demon we got word of and were luring this guy to his death."

"As ironic as that is, he's not a demon." Will explained with a friendly smile. "He's a son of the Greek god Hades, and I'm a son of Apollo."

Clary lowered her weapon, and suddenly everyone else followed suit.

"The sons of gods, huh? That's pretty crazy."

Nico shrugged like it was no big deal. "Well to us having angel blood is pretty crazy."

Everyone was quiet for a moment as they attempted to process what was happening. Could they trust each other's stories? However, before anyone could ask the several remaining questions running through their heads, a chill ran up Nico's spine.

"If you really are shadowhunters," he stated ominously, "then your demon has come to you."

No sooner then he finished that sentence did the door get torn off its hinges. Everyone scattered away from the center of the not very spacious room to avoid the door, which landed on the floor with a loud crash, before raising their weapons to the new threat.

* * *

"Long time no see, Jonathan!"

Nico and Will stared at the demon in confusion. At first it seemed to look like a clean-shaven man in a suit, obviously some sort of glamour failing at keeping them from seeing what it truly was, but after a few moments it began to take on the appearance of a werewolf-like beast. Its large black claws and tufts of obsidian fur reminded Nico of Lycaon.

"Agramon."

The greater demon grinned, elated at being known. "How kind of you to recognize me! I'm surprised you realized it was me that quickly, considering last time you flailed around like a child. I knew I'd encounter you eventually if I hung around here enough, feeding off of the locals' fears. This one belonged to a charming underage boy that decided to sneak in here. It won't hold much longer, seeing as the poor boy ran home to his mommy."

As he talked Alec crept over to where the demigods were standing defensively and whispered a quick explanation.

"He's a greater demon, which means he's very, very strong. He takes the shape of your worst fears in attempts to us them against you, but whatever happens just remember he's only a shape shifter."

"Greatest fear?" Will murmured, his eyes widening after a second. He turned to Nico frantically. "Nico, you need to shadow—"

"Your toying with innocent peoples' lives is going to stop now," Clary stepped forward, interrupting Will's words. "There's nothing we're afraid of that we haven't already defeated."

Agramon shook its head, its snout curving into something similar to a grin. "Silly girl, your fears are not of interest to me. His," he focused on Nico, "on the other hand are much more tantalizing. You're a demigod, is that right? From what I sense from you it seems you've faced plenty of horrors. Let's find out which was the worst."

Alec tried to intercept his focus by getting between the son of Hades and the demon, but it was too late. All Nico could do was stand there clueless as his greatest fear took physical form before his eyes.

The demon's skin rippled like liquid, turning dark purple as it divided its cells rapidly to stretch its form taller and taller still. Everyone watched in shocked horror as talons formed for fingers, muscles began to cover the entire monster, and creepy armor formed over that. However, its face is what unnerved everyone the most. Instead of eyes narrowing in anger or smirking lips with fangs sticking out there was only an ever-shifting pool of darkness.

The body of Tartarus stood before them, only a fraction of the size it had actually been at when Nico glimpsed at it during his capture, and it was soul-chilling.

"It's good to be back," Agramon cackled. The sound reverberated around the room due to his voice thundering like an avalanche. "How about we have a little fun?"

Quicker than anyone could react, the demon rushed forward and swiped its massive talons toward Clary. It was only because she had her blade up that instead of being fatally injured she was thrown back into Jace. At the same time Izzy struck out with her whip, the weapon curling around one of Agramon's meaty biceps. In the second it took for it to pull the whip forward and knock Izzy over Alec aimed his bow, an arrow hitting the demon's hand. While Clary and Jace rolled back onto their feet, Izzy rushing forward to reclaim her weapon while the demon tore the arrow from its hand, Will tried to get Nico to respond.

"Nico, please snap out of it!" The healer had his hands cupped around Nico's face, which was blank in expression like it had been since fully taking in the image Agramon had become. "That isn't really Tartarus."

"Are you sure about that?" The booming voice of the demon cut in.

Will turned around with a dagger in hand just as the demon hurled Alec at him. Luckily, he dropped it before being thrown to the ground and used as a net to stop the archer from crumpling into the wall. Even so Alec's head hit the concrete for with a sickening smack. It was then Will realized he would be unconscious for several minutes, so while he worked to haul the shadowhunter into the corner and relatively out of trouble he made a mental note to heal him when he had the chance.

Around the same time, Nico finally came back to reality.

"Hey, ugly!"

The three shadowhunters remained weary as the demon turned to face Nico, its right leg bleeding ichor sluggishly from where Clary landed a good hit. There were also several other cuts in its armor from where Jace hacked away at it. One of its iron boots was gone too, courtesy of Izzy.

Arms trembling slightly, the son of Hades took a deep breath and met the gaping hole that was the demon's face.

"I survived Tartarus before," he said evenly despite the trembling of his body that betrayed him as he raised his sword, "and I'll sure as Hades beat some cheap knock off."

It laughed harshly, raising its ebony talons in the air threateningly. "Brave words for a little boy."

"You have no clue what I am."

Just as several black smoke-like demons formed around the greater demon, capturing the attention of the conscious shadowhunters and Will, Nico sprung forward.

"First of all," he stated while ducking underneath the demon's massive arm, "I am the son of Hades." He quickly sliced at the demon's side, the tip of his sword ripping across a sliver of flesh left vulnerable between a few pieces of armor. A grunt escaped it at the strike.

"I am the ambassador of Pluto." A second later he was diving between its legs while the others wiped out the lesser demons which were trying to get to him. Before he could get out of the way though, the demon's talons raked four jagged lines across his back. He stifled a cry of pain as he spun around and promptly cut the hand that had injured him off.

"I am the Ghost King," he yelled over the roar the demon let out. For the next few minutes he hacked away at it until it tired so much it could barely move. Even though he could feel the blood soaking through the back of his shirt and the stinging of the cuts left there, he refused to pass out then. He had to end it.

"And," he said loud and clear as shadows leapt from the walls and wrapped around the demon like chains, "I am your worst nightmare."

With no way to fight back, the shadows keeping the demon from blocking or getting away, Nico stabbed the Tartarus knock-off straight through the chest. To his surprise it began to crumble, the entire thing turning to ash before vanishing into the air around them. The son of Hades sheathed his sword and turned to his allies and boyfriend to make sure the minor demons were gone just to see the shadowhunters staring at him with awe and respect.

"Death Boy, that was amazing!" Will congratulated with a bright smile.

Nico gave a small smile back in return, but when he opened his mouth to respond he felt a wave of pain, nausea, and sleep roll over him. Before he knew it he had crumpled to the ground.

"Nico!"

Will's smile slid off his face, a worried frown replacing it as he rushed forward to discern what was wrong with his boyfriend. When he noticed blood staining the back of Nico's shredded shirt a burgundy red he gently rolled him over onto his stomach. It was a few seconds later the shadowhunters knelt around him, respectfully giving Will the space and quiet he needed as he took out a tiny pair of scissors from his bag and cut the ruined shirt off.

"Is there anything you need?" Jace asked, his eyes on the lacerations. "Those look deep."

It took Will a moment to answer. He was too preoccupied with singing a hymn under his breath and placing his hands over two of the four lacerations needing to be closed. The shadowhunters respected this as they watched his hands begin to glow and bathe Nico's back in a warm, healthy light.

"The only gifts passed down from my father onto me are a mean taxi cab whistle and my healing abilities. I'm carrying all the supplies I should need on me, but I'll let you know if…"

He trailed off when he sensed how weak Nico's pulse was getting. Will knew the son of Hades had lost quite a bit of blood, but after a few minutes of healing he should have been out of the danger zone. He removed his hands to check on his progress, but to his horror the wounds were the same.

"Schist," he cursed, raising his head up to stare desperately at the four in front and beside him. "The blood isn't clotting like it should be. Something is off with the wound, do you know why? Are demon's claws laced with poison or something?"

Clary turned to Alec instinctively, as he was most up to date on his readings.

The archer pursed his lips in thought. "Some demons are venomous, yes, but unless whatever that thing took shape of had poisonous claws I don't think that's the problem. It might be because the wound was inflicted by a demon, which is outside the bounds of your mythology. Your powers blessed by Apollo might not be able to do anything when it comes to  _our_ world."

Of course. They were from two different worlds, which meant Will was useless.

"Then what can we do?" Now the son of Apollo's usually calm demeanor was beginning to crack. The blood on his hands was Nico's, and that didn't sit very well with him. "He'll bleed out if he stays like this for too long, even if I apply pressure and wrap it as best as I can. The scratches are too deep and open to infection."

Alec suddenly pulled out his cell phone, putting a finger up when Will opened his mouth to complain that now was not the time to be ordering a pizza.

"Hey, Magnus? Can you open a portal from The Underworld to your apartment?" There was a pause. "No, the night club. We're in a room near the back, if that helps you remember it better." A second pause. "Yes, the one where that girl tried to hit on me." A much longer pause. "I said I was sorry! I didn't even do anything; she assumed I was straight. Ugh, whatever. Please open a portal? We have a kid bleeding to death here." At this Alec gestured for Will to grab Nico. "Okay, love you too."

At that moment a swirling vortex appeared in the corner, and Will merely stared at Alec in question.

"My boyfriend is a warlock," he answered simply.

With that the shadowhunters lead a dumbfounded Will, who was carrying an injured Nico while wondering how such a crazy universe had been just around the corner his entire life, into the portal.

* * *

"So," Magnus asked once Nico was healed and sleeping soundly on the couch, "can someone explain to me what exactly is going on? Not that I oppose to having two handsome young men in my apartment, but I have Alec and prefer for my guests not to be on the verge of death. I thought you were all on a simple mission?"

Jace sighed. "It was supposed to be, but we ran into these two first. We confused the kid you just healed, Nico, with the real demon we were after."

"Who ended up being Agramon," Izzy added sourly.

The warlock made a face of disgust, glancing at the dark-haired demigod with new respect. "I see. It's a good thing you brought him to me when you did, since wounds inflicted by greater demons like him are almost always lethal. They are also difficult to heal."

"You still did a great job getting him out of the danger zone," Will interjected, looking up from where he crouched beside Nico, a hand holding his so when he woke up he would know Will was right there. "You healed the deeper parts of the wounds so I could stitch them and wrap the binding around his chest. Without you, he could have died. Thank you."

"Ah, but you impressed me with your strange healing magic. It saved me the trouble of treating Alec for a possible concussion, and him the strain of using a healing rune, so I should also be thanking you…"

"Will Solace," he replied politely. "But really, thank you so much for saving Nico, Magnus. If you hadn't helped him I don't know what I would've done."

Magnus caught the loving look in the younger teenager's eyes as he glanced back at his companion and felt compelled to look to Alec. There was warmth in the shadowhunter's gaze as well as the warlock connected the dots.

"It was no trouble at all, young one. I'm glad to be of service."

"However," Jace cut in suddenly, "can you explain exactly what two demigods were doing in New York? Also, what did Agramon shift into back there? I've never seen or heard of anything like it."

Will ran a hand through his hair, a nervous chuckle escaping him. "That's a  _long_  story. To answer your first question as to why the two of us were here in New York City, well, we were bored. Basically, Nico and I decided we wanted to travel because we really aren't the type to stay in one place. We have ADHD, you see, which helps with battle reflexes. We also have dyslexia, since our brains are hardwired to read ancient Greek due to our parentage, but that's not important. Anyway, New York City just happened to be the first stop on our journey. "

He paused for a moment as Magnus offered him a cup of tea, which he gladly accepted.

"Nico can travel through the shadows, which is how we got here in the first place. The fact that his father is the god of the Greek Underworld is why he sensed the demon and you guys confused him with a demon as well. The monster you saw the demon take the form of, well, is a sensitive subject I have no right to talk about. I also ask that you don't ask my boyfriend about it. It's very personal."

"We understand," Izzy reassured him just as Clary slapped her hand over Jace's mouth. He had been about to object.

"Thank you. All you need to know it's a monster, well, primordial that is exclusive to Greek and Roman myths. Our version of your worst greater demon, probably. Most of the monsters we face aren't that terrifying or dangerous, but something closer to your lesser demons."

After that explanation the shadowhunters, warlock, and healer began to chat about different monsters or demons they've encountered over the years. It was only after some time Nico finally woke up.

His eyelids fluttered open and he sat up fast, his hand gripping Will's in a death grip.

"Where are we?" He looked down at the new shirt he was wearing, as the one he had was gone now. "And why am I wearing a shirt that says 'All of the love! All of the glitter!' written in glitter?"

"Calm down there, Death Boy." Will said warmly as he gave Nico's hand a reassuring squeeze. "We're safe at Magnus Bane's apartment in Brooklyn. He's Alec's warlock boyfriend," he added with a grin. "He healed you when I couldn't on account the demon that hurt you was outside  _our_  world. You got rid of it for a long time though, so I'm sure we'll never see it again."

Nico stared at his boyfriend for a second before letting out a long breath and resting his head against Will's own. "Thank the gods."

Then he turned his attention to who he assumed was the warlock, meeting Magnus' cat-like eyes with his own dark brown ones. "Thank you, Magnus."

"No problem, cutie."

At the comment Nico blushed embarrassedly, Will noticing this and laughing. It was made even funnier when Alec made an offhand comment about their new friends getting more compliments that he was, spurring Jace to complain that he was the one lacking the most compliments. Clary and Izzy opted for a pizza to be ordered, and later that night a vampire named Lily stopped by to give Max, Magnus and Alec's adopted warlock baby, back.

"He reminds me of Chuck," Nico whispered to Will as they watched the child being passed around.

"I agree, but with less fur and more blue. He is very cute though. He makes me want to adopt in the future. What do you think, Nico?"

The son of Hades sputtered, caught off guard.

"Kids? I've never even thought about it. How many are you thinking, exactly?"

Will sat there for a moment deep in thought before smiling brightly.

"Ten!"

The terrified look on Nico's was totally worth fibbing a little.


	3. The Rise of the Guardians

"Burgess, Pennsylvania?" Will turned to Nico, a hand on his hip. "I thought you said you wanted to visit the chocolate factory in Hershey?"

The son of Hades stared at the welcome sign of the town they had just wound up outside of and sighed. "I've never been there, so it's difficult for the shadows to understand where I want to go. We've got to be close though. I mean, we did make it to Pennsylvania."

"True."

"We might as well look around for a bit before continuing on. I'm sure your stomach needs to settle," a mischievous spark entered his eye, "and I'm betting there's a McDonalds here somewhere."

"Death Boy, I love you, but we are not eating McDonalds for every meal. Let's grab something a bit healthier from a supermarket."

Nico rolled his eyes, but willingly followed his boyfriend's lead as they entered the town.

Burgess seemed like a friendly place overall. As they walked down the sidewalk they couldn't help but notice kids running around in the nearby park, light jackets covering them as a cool breeze swept across the open ground. When the demigods went inside a small family-owned market the owner happily showed them to the deli section that made healthy sandwiches for cheap. Once they each had one and restocked on water bottles, they found a free bench at the park and decided to eat there.

"This seems like a nice place to grow up," Will commented, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a large bite. "It's a bit chilly outside for April, but that's why we packed jackets and extra clothes."

"I wish you remembered that before Magnus gave me that sparkly abomination yesterday. He gave me such a lecture when I took it off, saying that gay men should not be afraid of wearing glitter but instead 'work it'. I prefer Alec's sense of style much better."

"All he wears is black, Death Boy."

"Exactly."

Will rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly. "I'm still amazed by Clary's art skills. That drawing she did of us curled up together on the couch is phenomenal, and it was just supposed to be a quick sketch."

At the mention of said picture, Nico glanced at the backpack where it was (hopefully) safely stored in a folder Clary had provided them with. She had wanted to give them a souvenir, as meeting demigods was quite the experience, and in turn Nico had somewhat awkwardly summoned a wishbone from the ground. He wasn't like Hazel, okay? She may be able to summon jewels, but unless they wanted to keep a zombie or a skeletal soldier a wishbone was all he could think of.

"Hey, Nico," Will's confusion-filled voice caught his attention, "do you see what I'm seeing?"

The younger demigod dropped the idea of looking at the art for now as he surveyed the park and immediately caught sight of… a flying boy?

He looked around their age, perhaps a year or two younger. With hair as white as snow and eyes so vibrant a blue they could be spotted from afar he appeared to float off the ground. Upon closer inspection he was lying stomach first on a staff of some sort, his pale hands supporting his head and bare feet moving back and forth rhythmically. He seemed to be chatting with a group of children only a few years younger than him.

"Should we be worried?" Will asked out loud, curiosity evident in his voice. "I mean, he doesn't look like any ghost or nature spirit I've seen, but he doesn't seem to be causing any sort of trouble."

Nico continued to stare at the boy, trying to figure out what he could be. He obviously wasn't human. Wait, was that frost covering his staff and jacket?

"He appears to be some sort of winter sprite, maybe even a relative of Boreas. And no," the son of Hades said absentmindedly as he finished off a water bottle and threw it into the recycling bin next to them, "I don't think he's anything to worry about. If he was anything like Khione he'd probably be trying to turn us into ice sculptures."

"Oh, that's good, because it seems he caught us staring and is flying over here."

"What?"

Sure enough, as soon as Nico turned his attention back to where the boy had been said boy was already hovering barely an inch away, his startling blue eyes catching Nico off guard.

"I've never seen you two around here before. Who are you guys? Did you just move here, or are you visiting? It's amazing that you can see me; not many teenagers that aren't from around here can. Oh, I never even introduced myself." The boy suddenly hopped off his staff, smiling brightly and holding a hand out. "My name is Jack Frost, spirit of winter."

Tentatively, Nico grabbed the spirit's hand and shook it politely. It didn't surprise him that his hand was ice cold despite the weather being only chilly.

"Um, it's nice to meet you, Jack. I'm Nico," then he gesture to his boyfriend, "and this is Will. We were just passing through to get some lunch before continuing our trip to the next town."

"Cool!" Jack nodded, taking a moment to shake Will's hand too. He opened his mouth to say more, but before he could a child in the park suddenly began crying. As soon as the distraught wails hit their ears the winter sprite flew over there faster than either demigod expected. They decided to go over as well, mostly because Will wanted to make sure the kid was okay and Nico knew his boyfriend would want to be of help.

When they reached the scene Nico quickly surmised that the young girl, Sophie, had been accidentally knocked down the slide and had hurt her wrist trying to catch herself. There was no blood from what he could tell, but it seemed to be starting to swell.

"A sprain, probably, but it could be broken," Will guessed as he watched Jack create a snowball in his hand similar to how Leo would form a fireball. The scrawny spirit of winter was trying to reassure the girl that she'd be better in no time, and while he'd gotten her crying to slow down his soothing words did not take away the pain she was in. Even with the snowball pressed against the injury her face was contorted in discomfort.

At this display, Will turned to Nico with a pleading look. He could fix this in an instant.

Nico knew exactly what Will was thinking. He sighed, nodding slightly before whispering for Will to let him explain things. It was with delight that the son of Apollo got to doing what he was best at.

"Excuse me, Sophie, is it? I'm Will. Can I see your hand for a minute?"

The girl glanced at Jack and another boy as if asking for permission, and after a shrug from Jack she gingerly stuck out her hand. Will said thank you before carefully brushing the snowball off her wrist without agitating it. It was then he gently put his hand over the injury, the swelled skin giving off a light glow and slowly going back to normal as he sang a hymn to his father under his breath. It was to everyone but the demigod's surprise that when he removed his hand her wrist was back to normal.

"Feels better, right?"

Sophie stared at Will in awe before tackling him in a grateful hug. "Thank you, Will!"

Jack, on the other hand, turned to the visitors thankful yet suspicious. "How did you do that?"

"As we were going to mention earlier," Nico fibbed nonchalantly, "we're not exactly human. We're more similar to you. Will here is a spirit of the sun with the gift of healing, as you saw. I'm a spirit of death, but before you freak out on me I do not kill anyone or anything. I merely help souls cross over if the time is right."

"I've never heard of spirits like that before, but I know there are more than what's been recorded in North's library." His face lit back up after deeming their explanation good enough. "Bunny might know about sun spirits though, now that I think about it."

Will and Nico glanced at each other. "North? Bunny? Are they spirits too?"

Blue eyes widened as the kids went back to playing, a boy named Jamie chasing after Sophie as she made a bee-line for the slide again. "You don't know of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?"

"We know of them, but I didn't know they were real." Will said.

"You've got to be kidding me," Nico muttered to his boyfriend. "He's not just a winter sprite; he's actually Jack Frost. We got mixed up in  _another_  'world'."

"I'm starting to think your shadow travel is searching for them, Death Boy. These don't feel like coincidences."

Nico waved him off, turning to Jack once more. "Sorry about that. We're just confused, because we had no idea Santa and the Easter Bunny were real. We always thought they were myths."

Jack smiled softly. "I don't blame you for thinking that. There were times I didn't know of them or believe in them either. Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, even the boogieman— they're all real. Spirits like the Man in the Moon and Wind are real too. Isn't that right, Wind?"

A gust of wind suddenly spiraled around the three teenagers, Jack shooting skywards with ease.

"I like him," Will voiced with a smile. "He reminds me of an energetic ten year-old boy that came to camp several years ago. He liked to make friends with everyone, and got into trouble with the Hermes kids."

"Shut up, Sunshine."

* * *

**EXTRA #1**

"Your teeth are flawless!" Tooth gushed, her fingers prying Will's jaw open. It was with confusion that the son of Apollo looked to Sandy for help. They had just been thrown into a strange snow globe made portal of all things, and after quick introductions to the Guardians the demigods were being swarmed.

Nico dropped his conversation with North concerning various ways of sharpening their swords, eyes glancing wearily to where Bunny was leaning against the wall and telling Tooth to let Will go. Unfortunately, the Guardian of Hope noticed.

"What's the matter, mate? You look tense."

"Animals tend to hate me," he explained. "Not saying that you're animal. I mean, you are, but you're more sophisticated than the average bunny. Anyway, bunnies make me uneasy. I had a bad experience with them once."

Will scoffed from a few feet away. "You got bit one time, Death Boy."

"It scarred me for life." [AN: reference to Chapter 12 of The Plea of Apollo (& many Solangelo one-shots)]

* * *

**EXTRA #2**

"Nightmares, huh? Pretty clever." Nico commented as he stroked the chin of a mare made of nightmare sand.

Pitch Black grinned. "Exactly! It's nice to meet someone with the intelligence to appreciate such genius. It took Jack here weeks to figure it out."

"Hey!" The spirit of winter complained, Will laughing as he noticed Jack's ears turn pink with embarrassment. "I knew female horses were mares, okay? I just thought your creations were male. They are made of black sand after all. Until you told me the nightmare I named Steve was a girl I assumed they were all the same gender as you, since they are extensions of you."

Will nodded. "I totally understand. Nico here once summoned a bunch of skeleton kittens, and since I am not a great at deciphering animals based off their skeletons I thought they were all girls on account of how adorable and friendly they were acting. Oh how wrong I was to call one of them Fluffy..."

"You don't call any skeleton cat Fluffy, Will. It's rude."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this feel free to leave a kudos or comment, and thanks those who [support](https://ko-fi.com/U6U08JKG) me!


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